RT1 zone in Colwood: Residential Towncentre

Colwood, British ColumbiaDraft, not yet reviewedBylaw read 2026-11-07

In short

Low-rise (up to six storeys), street-oriented residential development at medium density suited to a regional town centre, including smaller-unit apartment housing for seniors or people with special needs.

Zone rules

Purpose	Low-rise (up to six storeys), street-oriented residential development at medium density suited to a regional town centre, including smaller-unit apartment housing for seniors or people with special needs.
Main uses	Apartment Attached Housing Congregate Housing Uses in Section 2.1.10 are also permitted; the basic development provision also names one-family dwelling use and group home use (no more than one one-family dwelling per lot).
Also allowed (secondary uses)	Home Occupation Retail sales, offices and personal care services incidental to a congregate housing use Accessory buildings and structures Accessory dwelling unit
Extra uses on specific lots	Lot 3, Section 1, Esquimalt District, Plan 9686 and Lot 16, Section 1, Esquimalt District, Plan 2574, Except that Part in Plan 9686 (360 and 364 Goldstream Avenue): no more than three dwelling and care units unless amenity contributions are paid; rear yard 6.5 m; lot coverage 40%; usable open space 6% Lots 2, 3 and 4, Section 1, Esquimalt District, Plan 13872 (1919, 1921 and 1923 Jerome Road): no more than three dwelling and care units unless contributions and a traffic signal are provided; floor area ratio up to 2.0; rear yard 5.5 m; lot coverage 50%
Minimum lot area	1,400m² (minimum lot that may be created by subdivision)
Minimum lot width	18m (highway frontage and lot width created by subdivision)
Maximum lot coverage	40% (Goldstream Avenue lots) or 50% (Jerome Road lots) when over 50% of parking is underground or under-building; otherwise 35%
Maximum density	Floor area ratio 1.55 with minimum dwelling unit size 55m²; up to 1.75 with a non-profit housing agreement or on-site community amenities; 2.0 on the Jerome Road lots
Maximum height	Six storeys or 22.5m; pitched peaked roofs up to 26.5m
Front setback	Not less than 2.5m and not more than 4.5m for a residential use
Rear setback	6.5m (Goldstream Avenue lots); 5.5m (Jerome Road lots)
Interior side setback	4m; 7.5m if an emergency access route is required
Other rules	Basic development (before bonus density) follows Sections 5.3.03 through 5.3.07 (AR2) Usable open space at least 10 percent of the lot (6 percent on the Goldstream Avenue lots) Parking is 1.4 spaces per apartment dwelling unit Panhandle lots not permitted for subdivision

Source: Colwood Land Use Bylaw No. 151, 1989 (with amendments to August 24, 2026), s. 6.8 (read 2026-11-07)

Rules in the bylaw's general sections (parking, fences, suites, home businesses) also apply, and a lot can have site-specific rules. Consolidated for convenience only; the original bylaws should be consulted for interpretation and application. Colwood's zoning bylaw is called the Land Use Bylaw. Zone sections for CD zones from 10.5 onward are numbered with roman-numeral page footers in the document; pdf_page is the PDF page. No Section 10.28 exists in the consolidation. Zone pages are taken from the bylaw text by a research agent and have not yet been reviewed by a person: confirm with the bylaw before you rely on them. How answers are checked.

This zone as Markdown · JSON · all Colwood zones · Report an error